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Clerk shot in attempted Southside robbery describes ordeal

Posted 3:15 AM, Aug 04, 2012

RICHMOND, Va (WTVR)- Going out the door was the only option long-time Jeff Davis Highway business owner Marvin Polsten thought he had.  He says there was no doubt a gunman was trying to kill him.

Now we are told by sources, the man who shot Polsten may be the same suspect who killed a Family Dollar clerk and pulled off at least three other robberies along the Jeff Davis corridor.

“He's just so damn quick-witted."   That’s what a family friend says is the characteristic that may have saved Marvin Polston's life Wednesday.  Quick witted , as in, that’s what bought him time to make a run for it.

“I said ‘What are you going to do about that behind you?’  He said, ‘About what?’  ‘I said behind you,’ and he turned his head,” Polsten explained.  “I grabbed the door and bolted out.”

The gunman gave chase, steadily pulling the trigger, says Polston, who admits at one point, he fell to the ground and played ‘possum.

“He was leaning over the vehicle with his gun,” he said.  “I threw my hands up and he fired two or three more times and honestly, I don't know how he didn't hit me more."

The gunman and an accomplice ran, and police later identified two suspects, even using a Taser on one.  They were eventually released, but according to sources, evidence found at the Precious Jewels shop connects the robber here to a killer down the street.

“He looked like a pro: he wasn't nervous," said Polsten.

Is one of three men seen in surveillance video the one who is terrorizing businesses on Jeff Davis?  Police sources say yes, and now they're doing everything they can to capture him before he strikes again.

“[He] went in this side and out the other," he said, pointing across his store.

Meanwhile Marvin Polston says he'll be back to work Saturday, this time with some added security.  "I’m certainly going to beef up my security, but I'm not going to let this chase me off,” Polsten said.

Police recovered a weapon Wednesday.  Polston says if they show him, he could tell them whether it was the same gun.  Police sources point out Polston was shot with a .40 caliber gun, similar to the gun used in the murder of the Family Dollar store clerk Milton Jackson.